Assault, resistance and disobedience to authority: how they differ

The phrase I’m going to charge you with assaulting an officer is one of the most feared in a confrontational encounter with the police. And yet, few know what it means exactly, how it differs from resistance or disobedience, and where the limits lie between these offences and the legitimate exercise of the right to protest or not to cooperate.

These three offences are regulated in Articles 550 to 556 of the Criminal Code and protect the principle of authority: the proper exercise of public functions. But that principle is not absolute: authority only deserves protection when it acts within legal limits. An official who acts unlawfully or who infringes citizens’ rights is not legitimately exercising authority.

Assaulting an officer (atentado) is the most serious offence, defined in Article 550. It occurs when someone attacks or uses serious violence or intimidation against authorities, agents or officials in the exercise of their functions. Its central element is the attack: active and aggressive conduct, such as striking an officer or throwing objects at them. It does not require injuries to be caused; a clearly aggressive attitude is enough. Its penalties are one to four years’ imprisonment in the basic form, with aggravations up to six years when weapons are used, when acting as a group or when injury is caused.

Resistance, defined in Article 556, occupies an intermediate place. It occurs when someone actively resists authority with force, but without the aggressiveness characteristic of assault. The general criterion is that assault involves an offensive initiative, whereas resistance is characterised by a defensive or opposing attitude: the paradigmatic example is someone who struggles to avoid arrest without actively attacking the officer. Its penalties are lower: up to one year’s imprisonment or a fine.

Disobedience, also under Article 556, is the least serious offence. It occurs when someone openly and manifestly refuses to obey a legitimate order from the authority, without force or violence. It is key that the order be legitimate: an unlawful order does not generate the obligation to obey it. In addition, the refusal must be open and manifest, not a mere delay. Its penalty is the most reduced: a fine or, in some cases, a short prison sentence.

In practice, the distinction can be difficult, and the same set of facts may be classified differently. The struggle during an arrest is usually resistance if there is no active assault, and assault if the officer is struck or spat at. The refusal to identify oneself may be disobedience, unless the police request does not conform to the legal grounds.

A fundamental principle is that there is no offence of assault, resistance or disobedience in the face of unlawful police actions. But this right has limits: even if the arrest is unlawful, the citizen cannot respond with disproportionate violence, and the most prudent course is not to resist physically and to challenge the action afterwards through legal channels. If you are accused of any of these offences, exercise the right to silence, document the circumstances of the incident with witnesses and recordings, consult a lawyer as soon as possible and consider whether to report possible police abuse.